House rejects home-rule bill

By Bob Katzen

Updated:
03/11/2013 09:20:57 AM EDT

THE HOUSE AND SENATE. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives' votes on three roll calls from prior legislative sessions. There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week.

ACTION ON LOCAL HOME-RULE BILLS (H 2015): House 29-126, rejected a new rule requiring all late-filed home rule bills to be reported out of committee for action by the full Legislature within 45 days. Home-rule petitions are proposed laws that have already been approved by a local city or town but also require legislative approval prior to taking effect.

Supporters of the new rule said these home rule bills are very important to cities and towns and should not be delayed.

Opponents said all proposed bills are important and that making an exception for home rule petitions would set a bad precedent.

GIVE ALL BILLS A THUMBS UP OR DOWN (H 2015): House 29-126, rejected a new rule that would require all bills to be given a favorable or unfavorable report by a committee. Current rules allow committees to do so but also give them other options including recommending a bill be sent to a study committee, essentially killing the measure.

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Supporters of the new rule said allowing committees to recommend a study gives the committee too much power and discourages the full Legislature from voting on the bill.

Opponents said the committee cannot require, but can only recommend, that a bill be sent to a study committee. They noted the full House and Senate still have the option to agree or disagree with sending it to study.

(A "Yes" vote is for the new rule requiring a report. A "No" vote is against it.)

ALLOW 24 HOURS TO READ BUDGET AMENDMENTS (H 2015): House 29-125, rejected a proposal increasing from 30 minutes to 24 hours the period given to legislators to read any proposed consolidated amendment to the House budget prior to debate and a vote on it. Representatives file dozens of amendments on the same general subject matter. Legislators who are interested in that subject are invited to a meeting, during budget debate, to pitch their amendment. A consolidated amendment that includes some of the individual amendments, is eventually drafted by the House leadership and brought to the floor for debate and a vote.

Supporters of the rule said these amendments are often 30 pages long and legislators are asked to vote on them while the paper is still warm from the printer or copying machine. They said that this system is anti-democratic and results in members voting blindly on something that they have not even read.

ON THE LEGISLATURE'S AGENDA: Thousands of pieces of legislation have been filed for consideration in the 2013-2014 Legislature. Here are ten interesting ones:

SCRATCH TICKETS (S 105): Requires the Lottery to develop a second chance game that awards prizes for nonwinning scratch tickets, in order to encourage recycling and prevent the tickets from being littered in and around stores.

ADOPT-A-SENIOR (S 306): Establishes a statewide Adopt-A-Senior volunteer program to assist seniors with snow removal and property or home maintenance services. Details include creation of a registry of volunteers.

BAN FORMER LEGISLATORS FROM LOBBYING FOR THREE YEARS (S 1505): Increases from one year to three years after leaving their jobs, the "cooling off" period that former state employees and former elected officials, including legislators, must wait before going into the lobbying business.

SALARY CAP (S 1504): Prohibits employees of any state authority from earning more than the governor, whose current salary is $137,315. State authorities include the MBTA, MassPort, the Health Connector and the Teacher's Retirement. The bill allows the hikes if the authority provides a 30-day public comment period and holds a public hearing.

UNDERAGE DRINKING (S 761): Allows police officers to take into protective custody, with or without their consent, minors under 21 who have consumed alcohol.

FLAGS AT HALF STAFF (S 1561): Requires the state flag to be flown at half-staff following the death of a police officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty.

PRISONERS PAY $2 PER DAY (S 1173): Requires non-indigent prisoners to pay the state $2 per day to defray the costs of their incarceration.

SEX CHANGE (S 813): Prohibits state funds from being used to pay for sex-change surgery, laser-hair removal or hormone-replacement therapy for any inmates in the prison system.

PARKING ON A HILL (S 949): Allows cities and towns to prohibit drivers from parking their vehicles on an incline unless they turn their front wheels diagonally against the curb in order to prevent the vehicle from rolling down. The proposal imposes up to a $300 fine on violators.

ABOLISH $25 FEE TO APPEAL SPEEDING AND TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS (S 713): Modifies a current law that imposes a $25 fee on anyone who challenges a non-criminal traffic violation in court. The bill would waive the fee if the driver is found not guilty.

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HOW LONG WAS LAST WEEK'S SESSION? During the week of March 4-8, the House met for a total of six minutes while the Senate met for a total of nine minutes.

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